Sheriff reduces fleet; anybody need a boat?

Saturday

Feb 16, 2013 at 10:42 PM

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office is shrinking its motor pool since the number of deputies and staff it employs has dipped.

Katie UrbaszewskiStaff Writer

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office is shrinking its motor pool since the number of deputies and staff it employs has dipped.The office now has 25 fewer cars because it employs fewer deputies, Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. Forty cars were returned to the dealer over the past several months, and authorities used the revenue to buy 15 new cars.“When you cut your manpower down, ... you’ve got all these extra cars that you don’t need,” Larpenter said.Larpenter laid off 23 deputies when he took over in July, and he said several also quit. The “exodus” was a relief, he said.He noted that former sheriff Vernon Bourgeois spent a $9 million surplus that Larpenter left while he temporarily departed from the Sheriff’s Office and money is still tight. State legislative auditors are examining the Sheriff’s Office’s finances after a separate audit done at Larpenter’s request cited questionable spending and potential mismanagement under Bourgeois’ administration.The cars Larpenter returned are primarily SUVs and pickup trucks, he said. One of the vehicles he purchased was an unmarked pickup, and the rest are marked police cars. The ones traded in are older and have higher mileage than most of the others in the motor pool.As a result, the office will pay less in gas and maintenance costs, Larpenter said.Such an adjustment is not unusual, Sheriff’s Office attorney Bill Dodd said.Larpenter is also still trying to sell a $300,000 fishing boat Bourgeois purchased for the office.“If I talk to millionaires, the first thing I ask them is, ‘Do they need a boat?’ ” said Larpenter, who has been trying to find a buyer for the boat since returning to office.Several oilfield companies donated about $130,000 toward the 38-foot late-model Fountain boat, and the Sheriff’s Office made up the rest, Larpenter said. The office also had to pay about $40,000 to purchase a truck to pull the boat.It’s powered by three Mercury 300-horsepower motors and has a cabin inside its hull.“We need to sell this boat and put the money in our general fund,” the sheriff said. “It’s the taxpayers’ boat; it’s not my boat.”

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.